Book It wins CMS Battle of the Books

For Tessa Rager, MaKenzie Sheils, Hannah Kimble, and Jessica Calovis, all of the hard work paid off.
These members of the Book It team won Columbus Middle School’s Battle of the Books competition last week.
Two other teams competed: CMS’s I’m Booked (Nancy Scarbro, Jonathan McDonald, Sammie Howell, and Mckynzie Finney) and Park City Middle School’s Panther Pride (Savanna Frank, Elaine Allen, Brylee Deklyn, Tessa McNeil, and Abigail Hoffman).
All of the teams were tasked with reading 10 books from a list chosen specifically for the competition.
During the Battle of the Books, students answer specific questions about the books’ content. If the title is correctly identified, the team receives five points; offering up the right author is another two points.
This year’s competition consisted of three rounds, with an additional Battle Royale championship round between the top two teams.
The first round was head-to-head. As one team completed a written test, the remaining two teams took turns answering oral questions.
Round two took the teams to the gym for a relay. Each team member ran down the court, answered a question, and then ran back to tag the next person in line.
The third round was another oral question round in the library. Quickness was key, as the first person to stand earned the opportunity to answer the question.
Battle Royale saw Book It and I’m Booked face-off in the final round. The teams went back and forth, the students answering their own questions and stealing those missed by their opponents. Book It came out on top.
Both Columbus teams were coached by librarian Norma Glock, and the Park City team’s coach was librarian Mary Chapman.
This is the 11th year Columbus has participated in Battle of the Books. In earlier years, the winner of the school competition earned a place at the Billings battle. Columbus has hosted the competition since Billings and other schools ended participation.